Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 931

The original purpose of this succession ceremony was to focus on how they could use their abilities and show that they could lead their troops well. It was not supposed to be a competition on how active each side could be.

Of course, choosing Minhyuk’s side would prevent them from joining the Luvien Empire. However, if they could achieve a credibility rating that exceeded 50%, then they would be able to receive additional rewards.

These two people felt the rewards would be far sweeter if they joined Minhyuk’s side. Of course, it was just these two. Among the people Minhyuk chose, the God of Ice was the only one who refused the dish before her.

[Unlike the Battle God’s Sword, you have not moved to prove your qualifications as the Battle God’s Descendant!]

[The damage your allies are receiving has already accumulated, yet you remain on the sidelines!]

[Your Credibility Rating is -36%!]

Meanwhile, the attacks of the gods grew even fiercer, forcing their credibility rating to fall even lower. However, Minhyuk did not care about it. He stared at the glossy and red spicy braised chicken that was sitting nicely inside the cauldron lid.

‘Hiyaaa...’

After seeing how well the sauce had boiled, Minhyuk’s saliva was about to drip down. The first thing he did was grab a chicken leg. A small smile appeared when he took a bite of the tender meat, which had been cooked over high heat. He only took one bite to separate the bones from the meat.

“Kghhk...” Minhyuk sighed in admiration as he gobbled up the chicken leg.

Next, he turned his attention to the potatoes. He gently scooped some of them, put them in his bowl filled with rice, and sprinkled some of the red sauce on top. Then, he quickly mashed the potatoes and mixed everything in the bowl. After that, he scooped a considerable mouthful and put it in his mouth. The spicy and slightly sweet sauce, the well-mashed potatoes, and the rice met and created a fantastic harmony of flavors.

While Minhyuk was busy trying to finish his food swiftly, a notification rang in his ears.

[Twenty minutes have passed since the start of the Third Wave!]

Minhyuk quickly looked around. The entire hall had almost turned into ruins with the fierce attacks from the gods. As a thick cloud of dust flew and covered the area, another notification rang in Minhyuk’s ears.

[Your Credibility Rating is -54%!]

The worst situation had come. But all hope was not yet lost. Minhyuk saw that everyone had finished eating the dish created by Everyone’s Happiness.

“Ali.”

“Roger!” Ali shouted as he immediately used his Compression Magic, gathering together everyone who ate the dish that Minhyuk had cooked.

A bright light appeared and enveloped those that had been gathered, hiding them from everyone’s sight.

***

The God of Magic said, “Ali’s credibility rating has dropped to -50%.”

“Death’s the same too.”

The Succession Ceremony was also very important to the gods. This was because this ceremony was a way for them to give their chosen successors their position. The God of Magic and the God of Death were very fond of their chosen. But there was nothing that they could do; their descendants’ credibility rating was at -50%.

“I understand that they wanted to use the Food God’s cooking to receive cooking buffs to help them defend against our attacks. But I believe that was the wrong choice.” The God of Magic sighed sadly.

After eating what Minhyuk cooked, they could genuinely increase their credibility rating. However, there were only twenty minutes left. Even if they could defend against their attacks well, there seemed to be nothing else they could do.

And, of course, the Battle God could also see this. He thought, ‘It was a foolish choice. This is more so the case for Minhyuk. Even if they can successfully defend against our attacks from now on, it will be tough to restore their credibility rating, especially since they have -50%. Furthermore, Nerva’s credibility rating has already reached 35%. There’s a clear difference between yours and his.’

Minhyuk was an unusual case during this succession ceremony. Unlike others, he was set to compete against Nerva. And in this current situation, even if he tried his hardest to increase his credibility rating, Minhyuk would be deprived of his position as the Battle God’s Descendant if it fell below Nerva's rating.

‘I have no idea what you’re thinking.’

The Battle God truly could not understand. But a puzzled expression appeared on his face when he tried to look for Minhyuk’s figure through the thick dust cloud covering the hall from the explosion caused by the attacks sent by the God of Magic.

“...Huh?”

Minhyuk could not be seen anywhere in the hall. Confused, the Battle God looked around.

“What’s that?”

Dozens of huge boulders engulfed in flames could be seen flying toward the flight of bone dragons.

Boom, boom, boom–!

Crack!

Crack–!

Bang, bang, bang–!

“Kyaaaaaaaack!”

“Graaaaaaaaack!”

“Keuhaaaaaaaack!”

Some bone dragons plummeted to the ground after their wings broke apart. Several death knights who rode on top of these bone dragons immediately moved to ride on top of the other bone dragons.

Baaaaaaaaaaaang–!

“...!”

“...!”

The gods focused their attention on the death knights. That was when they saw a bullet shooting through the head of the death knights, who were trying to transfer to other bone dragons.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Accompanied by the continuous sound of a gun being fired, bullets pierced through the heads of the death knights and forced them to fall one after another.

“...”

The God of Shooting groaned.

“What?”

The sound of gunshots and this accuracy; his successor did this. But somehow, the damage that the God of Shooting’s Descendant dealt was strong enough to pierce through the defenses of a death knight. And the more shocking part?

“The bullets do not contain any power.”

The players often refer to this kind of attack as a basic attack. In other words, the God of Shooting’s descendant was making quick work of the death knights with only regular bullets. But the shocking thing did not end there. The sky was filled with dark clouds. This was the sign of the God of Lightning’s pinnacle skill.

“Rampant Lightning?”

The Rampant Lightning was an AOE Attack skill that would drop around two hundred lightning bolts and cover an entire area with a fifteen-meter radius. And it was not only that. The ones struck by those lightning bolts would fall into a two-second stunned state. Of course, these effects were only based on the God of Lightning's current stats and skill level.

Baaaaaaaaang–!

But when a lightning bolt fell, it swept an entire thirty-meter radius. And those who were struck by the lightning bolt? They all fell into a five-second stunned state. Six hundred more lightning bolts immediately followed the first lightning bolt.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang–!

The pegasi carrying the Divine Army troops continuously fell from the sky. But that was not the end; thousands of Tier One Magical Attacks poured out and rained down upon the trembling and shaking Divine Army troops.

“Energy Bolt.”

Energy Bolt was the most basic magic that anyone who changed their class to mage in Athenae could learn. Its power would solely depend on who was the one using it.

The thousands of Energy Bolts that covered the sky fell upon the stunned and defenseless troops of the Divine Army.

Bzzt– Bzzt–!

Bzzt– Bzzt– Bzzt– Bzzt–!

Bzzt– Bzzt–!

“Uwaaaaaaaaack!”

“Keheoooooook!”

“A- Aaaaaaack!”

Screams were ripped off of the mouths of the fallen Divine Army troops as their bodies slowly disintegrated and disappeared in a flash of light. The gods hurriedly moved to locate the source of the sudden attacks that fell upon them.

Fweeeeeet–!

Then, with his sharp eyes, the God of Shooting saw a gigantic hawk flying at breakneck speed.

“Is that a hawk...?”

The hawk, which was covered with fiery red feathers like that of a phoenix’s own, was so large that it could engulf the entire hall where the Succession Ceremony was being held. Its speed was breakneck.

On the back of the gigantic hawk were the God candidates that disappeared from the ground. Death stepped forward and brandished his staff. At the same time, almost half a million ordinary skeletons began to fall. Death watched the skeletons fall. He clenched his fists immediately when these skeletons reached the area where the bone dragons and the Divine Army troops were.

“Corpse Explosion.”

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang–!

Explosions began to erupt all over the place. Then, the gods saw their successors’ rapidly increasing credibility ratings.

[The God of Death’s Descendant’s Credibility Rating has increased by 20%.]

[The God of Magic’s Descendant’s Credibility Rating has increased by 25%.]

[The God of Siege Weapons’ Descendant’s Credibility Rating has increased by 1%.]

[The Battle God’s Descendant’s Credibility Rating has increased by 19%.]

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud–!

Five gigantic arrows that could pierce through the thickest walls were shot per second from above the flying hawk. This was the handiwork of the God of Siege Weapons’ Descendant. His primary ability was to summon siege weapons.

‘So freaking cool...!’

He was only originally able to fire around 1.5 shots per second, but now he was firing his siege weapons like a machine gun.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang–!

The arrows shot down the flying bone dragons swiftly and cleanly. The Battle God could only bark a laugh after seeing the scene.

“I did not expect he would do something like this to increase his credibility rating.”

The task given to them for this Succession Ceremony was to prevent the gods’ attacks. That was their threshold. But what if they chose to attack? Not only would they be able to protect their pride as gods, but they would also be able to increase their credibility rating faster than defending themselves.

[The Battle God’s Descendant’s Credibility Rating has increased by 2%.]

[The Battle God’s Descendant’s Credibility Rating has increased by 1%.]

[The Battle God’s Descendant’s Credibility Rating has increased by 2%.]

Not only that but the courage and power that these people displayed all stemmed from Minhyuk. As a result, Minhyuk’s credibility rating, which had plummeted to -50%, had already started to recover rapidly.

But Nerva was no fool. He quickly understood the situation's flow and hurriedly shouted, “Attack the gods!”

He ordered the men who chose to side with him during this succession ceremony to attack. Like that, Nerva began to rack up his credibility rating by attacking the gods, too. But of course, he was slower than Minhyuk, who took the initiative to attack. And since Minhyuk was the one who influenced Nerva to issue an attack order, it had its benefits.

[The Battle God’s Descendant’s Credibility Rating has increased by 10%.]

The attacks, which consisted of the siege weapons flying from the hawks above them, the thousands of magical attacks sent by God of Magic Ali, and the bullets shot by the God of Shooting, killed the Divine Army and those sent by the gods swiftly. And they were moving faster than Nerva and his allies. Why? Because they were at the center of the battlefield.

[The Battle God’s Descendant’s Credibility Rating has increased by 44%.]

[The Battle God’s Descendant’s Credibility Rating has increased by 13%.]

Minhyuk was doing his hardest to chase. However, unfortunate news struck him.

[Thirty-seven minutes have passed since the start of the Third Wave.]

This meant that there were only three minutes left. However, the difference in credibility rating between Nerva and Minhyuk was still at around 30%.

“Interesting.” The God of Summoners smiled faintly at Minhyuk and his allies, who launched a counterattack as the sky above them cracked open. At the same time, millions of monsters fell from the sky and hit those who were riding atop the hawk.

‘What will you do now?’

The rise in their credibility rating also began to slow down with the appearance of the monsters. At that moment, Minhyuk, who had been using various skills and fiercely attacking the Divine Army troops and the undead, jumped down from the hawk. He fell on top of the bone dragons and used them as stepping stones. However, many monsters and undead blocked Minhyuk's path, but that did not stop him.

“Viel’s Puppet Doll.”

The puppet that could deal the most damage appeared before Minhyuk and paved the way for him.

[The Battle God’s Descendant’s Credibility Rating has increased by 45%.]

[The Battle God’s Descendant’s Credibility Rating has increased by 18%.]

Minhyuk’s credibility rating rose rapidly once again. However, the gods soon became puzzled.

“But, wait...”

“Why does it feel like he’s coming this way?”

The gods looked at each other.

Meanwhile, cold sweat broke out of the God of Death’s forehead. He murmured, “...You always exceed my expectations.”

The God of Death had encountered and interacted with Minhyuk before. So, he could tell to some extent what the man planned. He quickly said, “That guy’s real target is us!!! God of Magic! Focus your bombings on him!”

No matter what happened, they were gods. They had to maintain their pride as a god. This meant that they could not allow their descendants to land an attack upon them.

Realizing what was happening, the Battle God broke out in cold sweat. He thought, ‘If you attack us, then your credibility rating will experience an exponential increase. But do you think that it’s possible?’

It was an interesting thought, a scary one, but interesting nonetheless.

At that moment, the God of Magic sent all his magical attacks on Minhyuk, and the God of Archery also moved to fire his arrows at him.

Baaaaaaaang–!

Powerful explosions engulfed Minhyuk as sharp arrows dug into him. And it was not only them. Even the Divine Army had used their swordsmanship skills and focused their attacks on them.

The Battle God sighed, ‘Your idea was great. However, there’s no way that you would be able to survive such an attack.’

A wry smile painted the Battle God’s face, while a triumphant one was on Nerva, who was standing below them.

***

The viewers watching through Reporter Go Eun-Ah’s broadcast sighed as they watched Minhyuk get devoured by the gods’ intense attacks.

[Wow. Will it end like this?]

[If Minhyuk is deprived of his title as the Battle God’s Descendant, Nerva will swoop in and push him back immediately.]

[This is the end of an emerging empire.]

[It doesn’t matter how strong Minhyuk is. The gods’ attacks were all focused on him. Do you think he will be able to survive that? He’s far too reckless.]

[In the first place, attacking the gods was already way too much for them.]

[But Minhyuk had received a new armor set, right? Wasn’t that armor set really powerful?]

[Lol. Even if its defensive power is high, it cannot endure that much.]

Reporter Go Eun-Ah and the viewers all sighed in tandem. However, Eun-Ah found it a bit strange.

‘Why did he act so recklessly like that?’

Even though he knew he would be the focus of all the attacks, why did Minhyuk continue to run? Why didn’t he stop? Why? Did he make such a reckless choice because he feared being deprived of his title as the Battle God’s Descendant?

At that moment, Go Eun-Ah caught sight of a shadow of a figure within the thick cloud of dust. The figure stood firmly and relatively fine despite the onslaught of attacks.

His appearance was revealed with one wave of the God of Magic’s hands, who used Wind magic to clear the dust away. Minhyuk’s appearance was completely different from what he looked like earlier. There were black feathers in the form of a full plate armor covering his entire body. From what it looked like, the black armor, which was crushed and dented all over, seemed to have the ability to regenerate. It twitched and shook like flesh regenerating as it repaired itself swiftly and quickly.

Go Eun-Ah saw Minhyuk’s lips move. From what she saw, he seemed to be saying the word ‘Transcendence.’